Sunday, May 24, 2009

Double Chocolate POM Brownies—POM Wonderful

Today, after receiving a nice case of POM Wonderful from the wonderful people AT POM Wonderful yesterday, I made some pretty dang, darn good brownies that I just have to share with you.  Thanks so much, POM!  We love the 100% pomegranate juice and what's more, we love all the health benefits this juice has.  I can't wait to use it in MORE recipes.  Stay tuned for that!

These brownies are perfectly fudgy and chocolaty and just might be my latest go-to "whip it up" brownie recipe.  I will be making these again.  I really liked the added POM syrup that I swirled in to the top of the unbaked brownies.  I really was a great flavor addition.  And though I forgot the second added amount of syrup after the brownies baked, these were still amazing.   Go get a bottle of POM Wonderful (in the refrigerator section of your grocery store, near the milk) and make these brownies.  You will not be disappointed.

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Double Chocolate POM Brownies (adapted ever so slightly from POM Wonderful)

· clip_image002Juice from 2-3 large POM Wonderful
    Pomegranates to make 1/2 cup POM Syrup*
    or 1 cup POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate
    Juice   (I made the POM Syrup from the 100% Juice)

· clip_image0033 ounces unsweetened chocolate

· clip_image003[1]1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

· clip_image002[1]1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened  (I used unsalted butter) 

· clip_image002[2]1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

· clip_image002[3]3 large eggs

· clip_image002[4]1 tablespoon vanilla

· clip_image002[5]1 cup all-purpose flour

· clip_image002[6]3/4 cup chopped almonds or walnuts (optional) (I used walnuts) 

· clip_image002[7]Garnish (optional):

· clip_image002[8]1/4 cup arils from 1 large POM Wonderful
    Pomegranate  (I did not use these)

· clip_image002[9]Fresh whipped cream (I did not do this) 

· clip_image0041. Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a 13 x 9 x 2-inch baking pan.  (I lined the pan with non stick foil for super easy removal of the brownies.)

· clip_image004[1]2. Microwave unsweetened chocolate and butter on high for 1 1/2 -2 minutes until butter is melted. Stir until chocolate melts. Stir in sugar.

· clip_image004[2]3. Whisk in eggs and vanilla. Add flour, chocolate chips and nuts. Stir well. Spread into prepared pan.

· clip_image004[3]4. Drizzle 1/4 cup of the POM Syrup* over batter; swirl with a table knife to create marble-like effect.

· clip_image004[4]5. Bake for 25 minutes, or until top is firm. Do not overbake. (I baked mine for 24 minutes.)

· clip_image004[5]6. Cool in pan for 15 minutes. Drizzle remaining 1/4 cup of the POM Syrup over brownies. (I actually  just realized I didn't even do this, but the brownies were amazing without it!) Transfer to a wire rack and cool for at least 1 hour.

· clip_image004[6]7. Prepare garnish - Score 1 fresh pomegranate and place in a bowl of water. Break open the pomegranate underwater to free the arils (seed sacs). The arils will sink to the bottom of the bowl and the membrane will float to the top. Sieve and put the arils in a separate bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup of the arils from fruit and set aside. (Refrigerate or freeze remaining arils for another use.) Whip cream.

· clip_image004[7]8. Garnish brownies with fresh arils and fresh whipped cream.

*To prepare POM Syrup, cut 2-3 POM Wonderful Pomegranates in half and juice using a citrus reamer or juicer to measure 1 cup, or use 1 cup of POM Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice. Combine juice and 3/4 cup of sugar in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes until reduced to 1/2 cup, stirring frequently. (Super simple and tasty!)

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Today Parker was sick (throwing up once in the night and feeling queasy all day--but is fine now!), but because of this, Parker, Sam and I stayed home from church today.  We had some fun in the kitchen!

Have I ever mentioned that I love Scholastic Books?  Well, I do.  Every time the kids bring home those order forms, I can't help but order books, books, books.  I have always loved children's books and we have three bookcases full of them here at our house.   Here's one of Scholastic's latest offers that I snagged up on the last book order---

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First, we made Candy Clay.  I have seen many homemade play dough/clay recipe and have made quite a few, but I hadn't realized you can make a totally edible one that actually tastes pretty good.  We made two flavors and colors.  Sam was chowing down on the stuff.  We halved the recipe and it still made plenty!  Here is the half recipe that we made.

Candy Clay, from The Ultimate Book of Kid Concoctions 2, adapted

2 cups powdered sugar

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt (the "candy" seemed just a tad salty, so I will use less next time)

3 tablespoons butter, softened

food coloring

flavor extracts (we didn't about 1/2 teaspoons per half the mixture)

Mix all ingredients together in  bowl of electric mixer.  It will form little crumbly- looking clumps.  If making more than one color/flavor, remove half the mixture and set aside.  Add coloring and flavor and mix well.  Gather the clumps up into a ball and it will immediately form into a ball of edible clay.

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Parker made a snail and Sam, well, he pretty much just made a mess, but he had fun doing it!

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I didn't photograph the clay very well, but the pink was cherry flavored and the yellow was banana.  It was slightly similar to Starburst candy, but not as chewy or hard.  We put a little powdered sugar down on the counter when they thought it was a bit too sticky.  And DO NOT, whatever you do, do not look at how extremely dirty that back door window is.  Hey, you looked, didn't you?  I said do NOT look.  Oh well. I'll be cleaning that tomorrow, but guess what, it won't stay clean for long!  ; )

Next we also made a Chocolate Clay, but I didn't read all the directions before learning that the clay needs to sit overnight to be workable.  So we've made it and will play with it tomorrow.  So easy and this one tastes even better--hello, it's chocolate! ; )

Chocolate Clay (we also halved the recipe from the book)--half recipe below

5 ounces semi sweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons light corn syrup

Melt chocolate chips in 20-30 second intervals in a microwave safe dish, stirring after each interval.  When melted, stir in the corn syrup.  Spread the chocolate out 1/2 inch thick on a sheet of wax  paper.  Let the chocolate set overnight.  It will stiffen and become pliable.  (We made it this morning at about noon and by 6 o'clock tonight, it was plenty ready to play with.)

Also suggested using white chocolate and stirring in a few drops of food coloring before the corn syrup is added. 

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Our final creation from the book was--super simple, fun and great for Parker's upset tummy--TOAST.  Painted toast!

Funny Face Toast

2 tablespoons milk

food coloring

Paintbrush (we also used cotton swabs, which I actually thought worked better!)

Slices of bread

Mix milk and food coloring (2-3 drops) together in a small dish.  Paint a face or design on the slice of bread.  Toast the bread.   Great for pb&j or BLT sandwiches or just some buttered toast.  This would be fun to use at holidays and decorate with hearts or a shamrock or pumpkin, etc.

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The proud little artists--

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"Hey, Sam, you're being awfully quiet out there on the deck, whatcha up to?" said Mom.

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When we moved here four years ago, Scott was in 2nd grade.  Well, he just finished 5th grade, which just doesn't seem right.  While he was in 2nd grade, one of his best friend's was Matthew McDougall.  Matthew and his family moved the summer before 3rd grade even started.  Scott was pretty bummed, but the McDougall's still visit here once a year and always call so Scott and Matthew can get together.  Today Matthew was able to come spend most of the day here.  They had a great time together!

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And just to be fair and give Taylor a little photo-op, here's his latest.  Well, actually he's been doing this for a good month or two.  He wears his shirts backwards, on purpose, even to school and I can't convince him otherwise.  Most of his shirts have a picture on the front, so the backwardedness (yep, made that one up) is always quite noticeable.  Kids definitely say and do the darndest things!

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And finally, by nine o'clock tonight (since there is no school tomorrow and Matthew was still here), the kid's had been outside playing.  Then they had a popsicle.  Well, you can't tell from the pictures like I was hoping, but Sam's legs and feet were about as dirty as they have ever been, including melted popsicle drippings all down the back of his thigh and all over his face.  Needless to say, he had a bath before bed!

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You simply cannot tell from the pictures, but once again, he's sure stinkin' cute!  (I'm not biased at all.)

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13 comments:

Anonymous said...

these look great! pomegranate is incredible with chocolate

Emily said...

Cute boys! Sounds like you've been busy.

I love, love the POM brownies. They look amazing, and that was such a good idea!

Elyse said...

First of all, those brownies look AWESOME. I love the idea of adding pomegranate juice to the top of the brownies. How genius!! And by the way, I think that the backwards-shirt trend is pretty hysterical :)

Unknown said...

I love the little activities you always come up with for your boys.
And is it wrong that I want to go and paint all over the bread thats lying at home now? :$

Pam said...

The brownies look amazing - rich and decadent, just the way I like them.

Liz said...

These sound awesome! One of my favorite candies is the pomegranate chocolate bar from Cost Plus (try it, it's fab) so I'm sure I'd love these brownies.

And also, how is it possible that your youngest gets cuter every time? Something about little curly-haired boys...

The Sugar Fiend said...

Katrina, you made my day to know that Scholastic Book forms haven't gone 'out' in the age of Amazon.com.

Pouring over those catalogs gave me such joy! Almost as much as the Sears Wish book!

Mindy said...

I was wondering why Taylor kept saying you can eat chocolate clay... now I know! I love Scholastic too, I am a book junkie.

Alisa@Foodista said...

Hello Katrina,Its been awhile since I last dropped by here! Your brownies look awesome but your children's smiles are much sweeter! Sam is so adorable!

Carla said...

I have these brownies on my to-bake list with my free case, but I was unsure with the syrup. Plus only half of my family likes pom juice, so I wasn't sure if the chocolate would balance out the...bitterness? of the fruit. Oh well, I guess more brownies for me, right? haha

Anonymous said...

Your brownies look perfect! The pictures of your boys are cute.

Anna said...

Hey,you could call the Pom brownies "Anti-Aging Brownies" like those anti-aging cookies.

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